


Courageous Greatness

by ElisabethMonroe



Series: Adam Parrish and His Band of Merry Men [2]
Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: Cabeswater - Freeform, Gen, Missing Scene, Post-Possession, SCRYING, added scene, cabeswater bargain, post demon possession
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-07
Updated: 2020-10-07
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:48:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26873971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElisabethMonroe/pseuds/ElisabethMonroe
Summary: In which:Adam and Noah see each other one last time
Relationships: Noah Czerny & Adam Parrish
Series: Adam Parrish and His Band of Merry Men [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1962340
Comments: 8
Kudos: 12





	Courageous Greatness

**Author's Note:**

> Wow I wrote a story at three in the morning and it made me sad. Again. Who could have seen this coming?

For a brief moment in the chaos, Adam finds Noah. He can feel the last dregs of Cabeswater, the ley line surge that’s breathed life back into it for a split moment, fighting to listen to his and Ronan’s wild, desperate pleas. He can feel it in the space of carved out body the demon left behind. He can feel it in the throbbing bruises around his wrists and the aching of his head. He can feel it in the racing of his heart, the shattering hurt of it all every time Gansey’s body flashes through his mind.

And then he can only feel Noah, standing in front of him, looking whole and a little awkward in Adam’s unconsciousness.

“Noah,” he starts.

_ You will live because of Glendower. Someone else on the ley line is dying when they should not, and so you will live when you should not. _

“Noah,” he tries again, a little desperately.

“If I wanted to fight, I’d have said goodbye to Ronan,” Noah says. He gives a wry, half sort of smile and reaches out a hand. Adam takes it immediately. There’s an exchange of energy, but nothing more. “I’ve already given Gansey so much. I can’t tell you anything else,” he says softly.

“I don’t need anything. Just...stay. Noah, stay,” Adam pleads quietly. It’s not fair. He knows it’s not fair to ask. Noah has been decaying for so long and asking him to stick around even after giving the rest of his life force to Gansey--again--is so unfair.

But so is this whole night.

“What’s Ronan supposed to do without you?” he asks instead.

“Adam, you and Ronan would both ask for Gansey’s life over mine. And you’re wrong. This is the most fair thing that could happen. I’m dead. I’ve been dead for seven years. Gansey and I have been sharing this for seven years. It’s only right I pass it on fully.”

Adam’s fingers tighten around Noah’s wrist. “Why are you here?”

Noah looks around like he’s taking in the space for the first time. “I don’t know. I guess your energy just finally called to me for the first time. It’s weird, right? That Blue could affect me, but not you.”

Adam blinks back tears roughly, swiping the back of his hand across his eyes.  _ His  _ eyes. “I knew what you were. Maybe I was trying to leave you in peace.”

Noah’s mouth quirks again, sad and a little defeated. “This isn’t peace, Adam. You of all people should know that. Existing is nothing.”

“Existing is enough.”

“Existing is not the end.” Noah pulls him closer and hugs him tightly. “Don’t tell Ronan right away. He’ll be upset I didn’t come to him.”

Adam has to focus to grab the back of Noah’s jacket, has to make himself feel Noah under his hands. Even then, he knows it’s all illusion and Cabeswater. Noah hasn’t been solid in a long time.

“It’s my fault,” he says. “Kill-- Sacrificing Cabeswater was my idea. You’re leaving because of me.”

Noah shakes his head. “No. I made this decision before you made yours. I’ve always made this decision. You, as always, were a surprise.”

“Why me, then?” he asks, and knows he’s stalling.

Noah knows it too, but he answers anyway. “I want to say goodbye. Gansey can’t hear me right now. I want…”

“We’ll remember you, Noah. Forever. Everything you’ve done.”

“Remember that I could be great. I could be so much. Gansey just realized it about himself. And we’re the same. Wanting to live and having to die for others, a courageous greatness. Me.”

Adam nods, bits his lip roughly. “I knew that already, Noah.”

Now his smile is a little lighter, a little more real in a body that’s increasingly unreal. “I really wish I could give you something, Adam. There’s so much I want you to know.”

Adam’s chin quivers and he ignores it. “I told you, I don’t need anything.”

“Still,” Noah says. He looks at Adam thoughtfully and places a hand Adam cannot feel on his shoulder. “You’re happy, Adam. For the rest of your life, you’re happy.”

And Adam isn’t sure if he’s telling Adam or speaking it into existence. Still, his fingers clutch into Noah’s sleeve. “Don’t go.”

“I’ve already made the rest of the deal with Cabeswater. I’m leaving with it. I’m sorry for what it’s going to feel like to you, but at least the ley lines are still going to be there.”

“I know how to listen to them,” Adam says with a nod. “I’ll listen for you too.”

“You’re the best for it,” Noah answers. He hugs Adam again and then steps back, pulls his arm free from Adam’s hold. “Take care of Gansey and Ronan.”

“I do. I will.”

“And let them take care of you.”

And then he was gone and Adam was crashing back to the real world. It’s still raining. Gansey’s still on the road. Ronan’s still angry and broken.

“Come on,” Adam says, wills it into reality. “Don’t throw it away.” The words come from nowhere and zap through his body, the rest of Cabeswater falling away the way he and Ronan and Blue asked it to.

“Wake up,” Blue says, touching Gansey’s face.

And when his eyes open, for just a moment, Adam sees trees and ravens and magic and Noah.

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah, I took some liberties with the intersection of magics from these chapters. What's a girl to do?
> 
> Find me [here on Tumblr](https://abarbaricyalp.tumblr.com/)


End file.
